The Pitcher Who Found His Strength in Jesus: Blake Treinen’s Story

He’s spent a dozen years in the big leagues and has two World Series championships. Dodgers pitcher, Blake Treinen, has come a long way since his days growing up in small town, Osage City, Kansas. An upbringing that was not always easy.

“I was overweight, a lot of health issues in high school, bullied, and I just kind of kept my head down and did as good as I could,” says Treinen.

Blake’s parents consistently pointed him to Jesus as he figured things out on his own.

“I never grasped what it meant to truly be a Christian other than, just treat people with respect, ‘love your neighbor as yourself and love the Lord your God with all of your heart,’” says Treinen.  “When I got to high school you start to view the world differently. ‘Who’s to say Christianity is right over Buddhism, or Hinduism, or whatever, Islam’, or choose any of them. Is this real and what if I miss the mark? Who’s to say this is the right way?”

That all changed at a youth conference Blake attended in high school.

He says, “I’m sitting in the stands, and they have this guy come on stage and they start playing this worship song pretty much talking about the life of Jesus and how he paid it all for us. And this guy is just throwing paint on a huge canvas back and forth strokes, random colors, and I love art. And all of the sudden he turns the image so he can see it.” 

“The image was Christ and with his crown of thorns and the image that he paid for us. And I just sat down and wept, and I was embarrassed not embarrassed of the moment, but like I’m crying in front of my friends. I’m trying to be this strong young man, and I just couldn’t stop weeping uncontrollably. That’s when I knew that it was real.”

Blake attended Baker University and South Dakota State before being drafted in the 7th round by the Oakland Athletics. In 2020, he was traded to the Dodgers where he helped lead the team to their first World Series in over 20 years. Just last season, Blake won his second World Series with the team, solidifying his place in sports history.

“I think my family’s name is great in the eyes of God, but in the eyes of the world nobody really knew the Treinens and nobody knew Blake and I don’t really care if they do. But I want them to see Christ’s greatness and what he’s accomplished in my career. 

What I think about right now is, every single one of us have been given a gift and our way of repaying it to the Lord is how do we honor him with that gift. Because when I am welcomed into the gates of heaven, what I want to hear is, ‘Job well done, good and faithful servant.’  And I don’t want to see any of my teammates or anybody in the stands or anybody in this world face the alternative. And so how do we make heaven crowded and that’s my goal.”

As the Dodgers play for yet another World Series title, Blake’s future in the game and beyond is in the hands of his savior.
“I don’t know what God has for me the rest of my career. I’m sure I’ve missed the mark in a lot of areas. But I pray now, “God if you trust me, would you allow me to be the guy that brings you the most glory?” And that’s not a selfish thing, I just, like why can’t Christ’s name be magnified more in the world?”

“I want to make sure that I, within my flaws, I am doing a good job of being an example of Christ. Hopefully my teammates see that, hopefully fans see that. I have a gift and I know that as long as I’m in this game it’s where God wants me. And the second I’m not I’m never going to look back and be like, ‘God why can’t I be in baseball,’ because wherever he has me, wherever he has any of us is where we are going to be the most fulfilled in that moment. You might think it’s somewhere else, but I promise it will never be more fulfilling than in the moment if you’re walking in the will of God.”